Reviews | Written by Neil Buchanan 20/09/2012

Book Review: TRUST

Trust by David Moody kicks off to an explosive start when moments after being introduced to our protagonist, Tom Winter, a vast, alien spacecraft tears across the heavens, ushering in a new age for mankind. There’s panic in the streets of the local town of Thatcham; roads are swamped as people fight to return to their loved ones or simply cower in shop doorways lost to the sheer grandeur of the thing passing overhead. The end of the world is definitely nigh, and the writing is on the wall. Or is it?

Interestingly, this is where you might expect Trust to be a story about alien invasion, or co-habitation, or the beginning of a Star Trek inspired golden age, yet David Moody circumvents all that to tell a far more personal tale. Tom Winter, unable to cope with the pressures of city life, has returned to Thatcham and his recently deceased father’s house. While the whole world is fixated on the arrival of the Visitors, Tom struggles with a mounting sense of apathy and borderline depression. Each day becomes a battle to prevent his life from pouring down the proverbial drain.

The aliens are dealt with in a gradual way, yet with a certain sense of inevitability, their presence gradually seeping into the story as we go, and this allows for a number of conversations one might imagine actually taking place in the event of a first contact scenario. Everything from Doctor Who to Alien Nation is referenced in some form or the other and illustrates an excellent point that this is a generation raised on a diet of science fiction. The genre as a whole has ingrained itself into our public consciousness and would indeed colour our reactions when encountering an alien species for the first time.

As the Visitors integrate themselves into society, Tom feels increasingly isolated. This isolation is focused, rightly or wrongly, on the Visitors. Technologically more advanced than mankind and hailing from a vision of utopia, the aliens become an ideal focal point with what’s wrong in Tom’s life. But is it that simple? Are the Visitors what they appear to be, or is Tom being paranoid, bigoted, even racist? It comes down to a matter of trust. A quality distinctly lacking in Tom Winter’s life.

Before you think that’s all there is to Trust, remember this is a novel by David Moody, author of the Autumn and Hater series. And in the final act, Trust opens up to a truly cosmic scale with far-reaching consequences for all concerned.

Trust is a slow-burner and all the richer for it. The layers of characters and details of the story play out perfectly when matched with an ending you’re not likely to forget. It’s also an outstanding novel, delivers in more ways than one, and is worthy of a place on the discerning fan’s bookshelf.

But why take our word for it? David Moody is currently serialising the novel on his website. Take a look and see what the fuss is about.